


Do not call me overprotective

by meanie_nim



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Angst, Bromance, Chaptered, Drama, Fanfiction, Fluff, Friendship, Hurt, MinWon - Freeform, Wonwoo - Freeform, curse words, meanie, meaniecouple, mingyu - Freeform, nonAU, nosmut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-26
Updated: 2019-01-18
Packaged: 2019-09-27 21:29:15
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 19,609
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17169725
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/meanie_nim/pseuds/meanie_nim
Summary: Mingyu is overprotective. Is the new staff member an old pervert, lusting over Wonwoo or is Mingyu overreacting?Story starts after Seventeen´s first on stage appearance with ´Getting Closer´Bad at this whole summary thing, just try it - maybe you are gonna love it or not :D





	1. ONE

_There is no greater love than to lay down one´s life for one´s friends _  
John, 15,13__

____

~ ~ ~

____

 

It was exhausting. The sweat ran over his forehead and burned in his eyes. He grabbed his towel and wiped his forehead. He breathed deeply and then turned to his friend, who had just taken a big sip from his water bottle. "They love it," he let out grinning, his gaze resting on his almost a year older band colleague and dearest hyung.

 

"Of course they love it. We practiced like lunatics for this song," Wonwoo replied and offered him the open water bottle. "I would have beaten every one of them in the hall if they hadn't loved it," he added while Mingyu grabbed the bottle and grinned again before taking a good sip of water.

 

Seventeen had their first live performance with their new single "Getting Closer" behind them and were now all backstage, exhausted after days and nights of hard practice, but also overjoyed at the positive response from today's audience. Mingyu put the empty bottle on the floor and looked around the backstage area. Many of the members had placed themselves on the pillows and chatted excitedly with each other. They were supposed to make a Vlive-Clip for the fans and waited for the arrival of the staff.

 

Suddenly Mingyu came up with something. "Wonwoo, have you noticed that the new staff member is kind of strange?" They both sat down on two pillows next to Hansol and Wonwoo stretched, resembling a cat. He yawned before looking at Mingyu. "Do you mean Lee hyung?"

 

Mingyu grimaced. "Aish, don't call him hyung. That sounds strange. He could be your father." He leaned his head against the wall and played with the ring on his pinky finger. One of the staff, whom Seventeen had accompanied before the debut, had been pregnant and was now on her well-deserved baby break. For that time, a replacement was sought and apparently found in Wang Lee, a 40-year-old who had been on the team for two weeks already.

 

"I didn't notice anything strange about him." Wonwoo ran his hand through his permed hair. "What do you mean anyway?" Mingyu sat up straight and stared at his older friend. "Just this morning, before the show. I can't really grasp it, but the way he looks at yo- umm, just the way he looks at us and touches us. Don't you find that strange?"

 

Mingyu grumbled inside. To be honest, he's noticed since the first day of his arrival that Lee was always giving secret looks to Wonwoo and once the staff were around the members, he was always standing close to him, putting his hand discreetly on his shoulder or touching his waist to position him differently for pictures. Mingyu had noticed all this immediately because he is a person who observes a lot. And he always had an eye on his hyung anyway -from the first day he met him. He couldn't help it. He had become fond of Wonwoo so quickly, but that constantly led him to check again and again where his hyung was and how he was feeling.

 

But just because he was so over-cautious, he wasn't quite sure whether his concern about Lee was justified or exaggerated. He was thinking long enough, that he hadn't noticed that Wonwoo was staring at him, apparently waiting for an answer. "Are you all right?" he asked him, a slight line of worry forming on his forehead. "I just said that he seemed like the other staff members and asked if everything was okay with you, Gyu.“ He paused before continuing. „Did he touch you like that?" he asked and put his hand on Mingyu´s thigh jokingly, squeezing it slightly.

 

Mingyu glanced at his laughing friend who had finally gained some weight and looked healthier than he had in a long time. "Forget it. I think I'm just too exhausted," he reassured Wonwoo with a half-truth and smiled at him. Wonwoo took his hand away and his grin faded. "But seriously, if he does something strange to you, tell me immediately." Mingyu nodded with a smile and decided to continue watching Lee closely and not to cause a stir for the time being. His hyung shouldn't worry about him, but about himself -nevertheless he was grateful that Wonwoo took care of him.

 

When the Vlive staff arrived fifteen minutes later, Seventeen made a 6-minute video for the fans. Mingyu forgot about Lee and enjoyed the funny recording with his members. "I think we had a real hit with the song," Jun said enthusiastically when the Vlive was over and turned to Mingyu, who was sitting next to him. "Even members of Wanna One came up to me afterwards and celebrated us."

 

Mingyu grinned at his Chinese member. "Since when does Wanna One talk to you?" Jun pinched his side. "They happened to meet me." Mingyu nodded with a laugh and looked around. The staff cleared the cameras away and the first members left the room to change.

-

Mingyu yawned when he was finished changing and looked around for Wonwoo to cuddle up to him. But he couldn't find him among his members. He rushed back into the small room where they had just filmed the Vlive and found it empty. He really didn't want to panic, but it was too late. He ran back to the others. "Has anyone seen Wonwoo?" he shouted through the room and received only a few shrugs or tired "No´s" as an answer.

 

He couldn't prevent a picture from slowly getting stuck in his head. Lee pushing Wonwoo against a wall and putting his hand on his mouth so nobody could hear him scream. Mingyu was desperate and ran out of the room into the long corridor. He decided to go through every single door until he found Wonwoo and if he got his hands on Lee he would have no other choice. "I'll kill you if you--"

 

" Mingyu?" He was just about to storm into a room that was only allowed for staff members when an all too familiar voice stopped him. He turned around and saw a bewildered Wonwoo standing a few meters in front of him. "What are you doing?“ He glanced at the door Mingyu was about to enter. „The staff room?" He tilted his head to the side and looked at Mingyu closely. "What's with that look on your face? Is something-"

 

Before he could finish speaking, Mingyu closed the distance and hugged Wonwoo so tightly that he almost lost air himself. "Yah!" He ignored Wonwoo´s protest and pressed his face on his friend's shoulder and took a deep breath. Wonwoo endured the firm embrace for a few seconds, before pushing Mingyu away. "Yah! Do you want to crush me?"

 

Mingyu took a step back and the joy of Wonwoo´s well-being turned to anger. "Don't you dare to Yah on me! Where were you?" he almost shouted and Wonwoo stared at him confused. "In the toilet," he murmured taken aback and was not sure what was going on with Mingyu. The latter inhaled deeply and placed a hand on his forehead. He was an idiot. Now he had overreacted again.

 

"Gyu, seriously, what's going on?" Wonwoo´s soft voice made him take his hand away and face his hyung. He couldn't suppress a pout. "You worry me," Wonwoo continued and moved one step closer. Mingyu slapped himself internally and put on a smile. "I'm just kidding. I was just kidding." Wonwoo reached for Mingyu´s arm and stopped him from moving. "Don't talk nonsense. You look as if someone had pointed a gun at you."

 

Mingyu flinched as he felt Wonwoo's ice-cold fingers on his skin. His older friend was freezing all the time and Mingyu and the other members could hardly manage to hand him a hot package every day. Wonwoo still looked at Mingyu expectantly and the latter sighed, "I might have overreacted." He scratched the back of his head and avoided the intense gaze from Wonwoo . "Because?" he asked curiously and squeezed Mingyu's arm to encourage him to keep talking.

 

Mingyu took a deep breath. "I don't know hyung. Somehow I'm starting to get paranoid since Lee joined us." Wonwoo let go of Mingyu's arm, but still remained close in front of him. "I knew you didn't mention this subject just for fun earlier. Do you want to discuss something with me, Gyu?“ Before Mingyu could decide if he should share his thoughts with Wonwoo, the first members came out of the changing room. "We go to the Chinese restaurant around the corner. Are you joining us?“ Minghao asked and Wonwoo nodded absently. "Good, then follow us."

 

When the food was served on the table, the weariness of the members had quickly disappeared and the short starving silence was followed by a loud chatter full of laughter. Mingyu was infected by the others and decided to finally throw the bad thoughts about Lee overboard and relax. Although this time staff were present for dinner and Lee kept stepping into his field of vision, Mingyu tried to suppress his negative feelings. Wonwoo wasn't sitting close to him and maybe after his dramatic reaction it was a good time for calming down.

 

To celebrate the success of "Getting Closer" a lot of alcohol was brought to the tables. The next day should be free of rehearsals, so that some of the members and the staff could have a good time. Mingyu, who could hardly stand more than one beer, was already drinking his second and tried to understand what Seungcheol and Jeonghan were talking about next to him. But the noise level was so high that he could hardly hear his own word. The atmosphere was very lively.

 

From the corner of his eye Mingyu noticed that Wonwoo got up and probably went to the toilet. "Another beer?" asked the Chinese waiter, who spent his time serving his members well. "Sure." Mingyu nodded eagerly and got a slap from Seungcheol. "Don't overdo it. Two is your limit," he joked. Mingyu stuck out his tongue and run his hand through his hair.

 

He glanced at the other table, where the staff were celebrating quite happily and noticed immediately that one was missing. Lee. Although his pulse suddenly shot up, Mingyu tried to stay as calm as possible. He didn't want to overreact again. But when five long minutes later neither Wonwoo nor Lee came back, Mingyu became impatient. He also decided to go to the toilet but without attracting attention. When he got up, he noticed that the alcohol had gone slightly to his head, but at least he could still walk straight ahead.

 

When he had reached the toilets, which consisted only of two cabins, he suddenly felt terribly unwell. And not only because of the two beers he had just consumed one after the other. The toilet was empty. Neither Wonwoo nor Lee were there. Whether it was the alcohol or the negative feelings that had been causing Mingyu stomach pain for two weeks, panic spread suddenly inside him.

 

He left the toilet and looked around the narrow hallway. The two of them would hardly be in the women's toilet. His eyes fell on the end of the corridor that marked an emergency exit. Mingyu hurried over and pushed the door open to the outside. He went down the three steps and stood in the backyard of the restaurant. It was dark, but the yard was sufficiently lit with two street lights.

 

At first sight, Mingyu could not see anyone. It wasn't until he turned around to go up the stairs again that he noticed out of the corner of his eye that someone was moving behind a large dumpster. Determined, he walked around the container and his heart sunk into his chest. Wonwoo was crouching on the floor, his eyes tightly closed in pain and his arms were wrapped aound his abdomen. Mingyu was in shock as he saw his hyung lying there, looking like this. There was no one else with him.

 

When he bent down and touched Wonwoo´s arm, the latter was startled and tore his hand away. "Wonwoo." Only now did Mingyu notice the bleeding lip and his swollen right cheek. Immediately his eyes began to burn, the first tears started gathering. "Wonwoo, it's me," Mingyu gently let out and reached for his arm again. Wonwoo was clearly in shock and didn't really seem to notice who was standing in front of him. Mingyu kneeled down closer to his friend and talked calmly to him, pulling him up by his arm so that he at least sat in front of him and was no longer laying on the cold asphalt. Tears ran down his face and he trembled hard. Mingyu took off his sweater and wrapped it over Wonwoo's shoulders. Only during this movement did the latter look up and notice Mingyu's presence. He grimaced and grabbed Mingyu's shoulder leaning himself to his chest. Mingyu put his arms around the trembling body and suppressed a sob. He had never seen Wonwoo in such a state before, and if Wonwoo hadn't needed him so much at that moment, he would have collapsed and cried bitterly. It hurt him so much to see his older friend in such a state. He patted his head and pulled him closer to himself, giving him the warmth he so desperately needed.

 

Mingyu didn't know how long they cowered on the floor like that. He started patting Wonwoo's back until the latter stopped trembling and he couldn't hear any more sobbing. "Hyung." He gently pushed him away from himself to catch a glimpse of his face. It was covered with tears and again Mingyu had to control himself not to start crying straightaway. The suffering of other people always hurt his heart a lot and if they were people he loved, it was really worse. He quickly wiped a hand over his uninjured cheek before looking at his eyes.

 

Wonwoo returned his gaze and grasped the end of Mingyu's shirt with his hand. "Let's go inside. It's too cold out here." Mingyu began to move, but Wonwoo wouldn't let him go and shook his head. "I, I don't want, I don't want the others to see me like this," he stuttered and Mingyu clasped his hand, whose strong grip threatened to tear his shirt. "We'll go to the toilet, then you can wash your face." Mingyu wanted to know what had happened, but he knew he had to take care of Wonwoo's physical condition first.

 

When he helped him to stand up, he noticed that Wonwoo twisted his face in pain and wrapped an arm around his abdomen again. Mingyu swallowed hard and put his arm around Wonwoo´s shoulder to help him up the stairs. Lucky for both, the escape door hadn't fallen into the lock, so they could return to the restaurant and go straight to the toilet. Fortunately it was empty and Mingyu pushed the door open with his foot to one of the cabins and helped Wonwoo to sit on the closed toilet lid.

 

As he moved to get wet paper towels for the blood, Wonwoo grabbed him by the arm. "It hurts so much," he said and Mingyu bent down to him with a worried look. "Wonwoo." He put his hand on his cold fingers and caressed them. "Shall we get an ambulance?" "No. No. It hurts in here." Wonwoo placed a hand over his heart and Mingyu knew exactly what his friend meant. He must have experienced something terrible outside that hurt him as much as it hurt his friend.

 

Mingyu was all sober when he took paper towels, wet them and started cleaning Wonwoo´s bloodstained chin. He couldn´t believe what had just happend. "He grabbed me in the hallway as I was on my way to the toilet, pressed his hand on my mouth and dragged me outside," Wonwoo began to tell as he followed every hand movement of Mingyu with his eyes. "He pressed me against the container and started kissing me everywhere." Mingyu paused for a moment. "I bit his fingers and he hit me so hard that my ear is still ringing."

 

Mingyu removed his hand and threw the used paper towel on the floor next to him. He couldn't look Wonwoo in the eye as he continued. "Then he pushed me on the floor and tried to pull up my shirt. I began to kick him. He tried to keep my legs still and I spat in his eyes." Mingyu was still looking at the ground where the used cloth was lying. His friend was hurting so much and he could hardly bear it to see him like this. "When he kicked me in the abdomen, the air was gone for a moment, but suddenly I remembered my self-defense course and when he looked at me again, I rammed both fingers into his eyeballs.“

 

Mingyu finally looked up and their eyes met. His heart dropped when Wonwoo leaned forward, brushing a loose strand of Mingyu´s hair aside. "He screamed and stood up, kicked me in the abdomen again. A few seconds later I heard the door of the emergency exit open and then suddenly he was gone and you were there," he whispered the last words as tears began to form in his eyes. "I'm so sorry I didn't come sooner," Mingyu explained sadly, staring at the area of the abdomen where Wonwoo had still a protective arm wrapped around himself. "Can I see?"


	2. TWO

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mingyu takes care of Wonwoo and gets upset.

_A true friend cares like a mother, scolds like a father, teases like a sister, irritates like a brother and loves more than a lover._  
Unknown

~ ~ ~

Wonwoo held his breath for a moment as he took his arm from his throbbing, aching stomach and let Mingyu carefully lift up his shirt. The masked man had obviously kicked him once too often in the stomach area because the pain had still not subsided. Wonwoo wouldn't look at the wound, but could tell from Mingyu's open mouth that it looked as bad as it felt. 

"Wonwoo,“ Mingyu stroked so lightly over the throbbing spot that Wonwoo was not sure if he touched it at all. "Is it bad?" he asked his younger friend and squinted his eyes together, still anxious to look at the injury. He had read at some point that pain was felt even more intensely when you were looking at the hurting spot or injury. Wonwoo used Mingyu's facial expression to tell how horrible his stomach really looked. "We need to get you to the hospital." 

"No," Wonwoo let out immediately and lowered his shirt without looking at the wound. "No hospital." Mingyu ran his hand through his hair and seemed desperate. He stood up from his kneeling position. "Why not? You really should check, maybe something is wrong." Wonwoo shook his head vigorously. "No hospital." Mingyu looked at him critically and Wonwoo tried to get up, but without success. The pain in his abdomen made him crouch again. "Because then I have to explain how that happened," he dropped out through gritted teeth. 

"You know what, I don't give a damn! I want them to examine you and assure me that everything is fine." He raised his voice slightly and Wonwoo sighed. He was more than happy that his friend had most likely come to the backyard in time and prevented worse. And he was glad that he was now with him to give him emotional comfort, but slowly the first shock disappeared and Mingyu's overprotective nature began to annoy him. "For all I care, don't tell them that Lee dragged you into the backyard and tried to do things with you I don't want to think about, but-" Wonwoo raised his head and stared at Mingyu. "Lee?"

Mingyu kneeled down at Wonwoo's eye level again and patted his head. "Oh God, maybe you have a concussion." Wonwoo pushed his arm away and stared at him. "What do you mean with Lee?" Now Mingyu was confused and shook his head. "Hyung, the person who beat you up so much-" "Was wearing a mask," Wonwoo finished Mingyu's sentence and received a shocked facial expression in response. After a few seconds Mingyu regained his composure and nodded. "Well, then it was Lee with a mask on his head." 

Wonwoo rolled with his eyes. Apart from the fact that he had just experienced one of his worst moments in his early 20s, Mingyu actually made him smile. "You're crazy." He tried to get up a second time and with Mingyu´s immediate support he was now at least standing upright. With aches and pains, but he was standing. Mingyu still held him by the arm to support him. "Wonwoo," before he could continue, the door to the toilets opened. 

"What are you doing here? We already asked ourselves, whe- Wonwoo, what happened to your face?“ Chan stopped in front of the sinks and stared from one member to the other. Wonwoo pushed Mingyu forward to step out of the cabin, bringing his hand to his burst lower lip. Chan stared down at him and then back at Mingyu. "Don't tell me you fought." The assumption came so unexpected that it made Wonwoo laugh. Bad idea, since his lower abdomen hurt like hell. He and Mingyu had quarreled over and over again in the past, but they never got violent -at least not intentionally. Mingyu's clumsiness was out of the question in this case. 

"Um," Wonwoo absolutely didn't know what to say. He couldn't come up with an explanation fast enough. "It was my fault. Wonwoo was about to leave the toilet when I wanted to go in. I pushed the door open with my foot and the rest is history." Wonwoo wasn't sure if Chan would believe Mingyu's lie, but at that moment it sounded pretty authentic. "Yes, you're so clumsy," he exclaimed and gave Mingyu a slap on the back of his head, playing along. Mingyu gave him a fake smile in return.  


"I don't know if I should believe that, but on the other hand you are damn clumsy and dangerous for your members, Gyu. But now I really have to go to the toilet." Wonwoo stepped aside to let Chan into the cabin. When he closed the door behind him, Wonwoo looked at Mingyu, who was already staring at him. "Did you have to give me a slap?" he whispered. "I just wanted to make your lie more believable," Wonwoo whispered back and patted Mingyu's head as an apology. The latter immediately had a soft facial expression and put an arm around his shoulder. "Let's talk outside." Wonwoo sighed as they stepped into the hall. The subject hospital/Lee had probably not been sorted out for Mingyu yet. 

"I'm not going to the hospital," was the first thing Wonwoo let out as they stood in the hallway in front of the emergency exit. Mingyu sighed and gazed at Wonwoo from head to toe. "Good. Change of plans. Then we apologize to the others and go back to the hotel so I can at least bandage your wound there." Wonwoo nodded. He didn't feel like going back to the table anyway and pretend nothing had happened. "Okay, you let them know we're going back and I'll wait here." Mingyu looked at him in disbelief. "Yeah, sure, I'll leave you here alone for Lee to come back and completely kidnap you this time." Wonwoo rolled his eyes. "That wasn't Lee!" He took a deep breath. "Okay, listen. I don't want the others to see me like this. Maybe they won't buy your lie, like Chan did." 

As if by order, the latter just came out of the toilet and looked at them both questioningly. "Listen, tell the others we're going back to the hotel. Wonwoo doesn't feel so good and I put a Band-Aid on his face or something like that." Chan just nodded and turned around to return to the table. He couldn't resist a ´You are both nuts´ while walking off.

-

When they both returned to the hotel room, Wonwoo lay down on his back on the bed. The pain in his stomach seemed to have increased and he felt almost dizzy from the pain. He turned his head to the side and watched Mingyu disappearing into the bathroom. "Thank God they have a first aid kit here. Not all hotels have that," he heard him say through the locked door a few moments later. When Wonwoo was lying there like that, the pictures from the evening came back into his head and his stomach turned. When the man had thrown him to the floor, Wonwoo actually thought it was over. He had been afraid like never before in his life and although he would have fought back till the end -at some point his strength would have faded. 

He swallowed hard as tears formed in his eyes. He wiped them away, he didn't want to cry anymore. But when Mingyu came out of the bathroom with a cheerful expression on his face that he had found a first-aid kit, the next tear rolled made his way down his cheek. "Okay, let's see how we-" Wonwoo quickly turned his face to the other side but Mingyu already had noticed his tears. He felt the mattress yield slightly as his tall friend sat at the edge of the bed. "Wonwoo," he softly whispered, causing even more tears to fall from his eyes. 

"I'm pulling up your shirt so I can take care of your wound, okay?" Wonwoo nodded and wiped over his wet cheek. He closed his eyes as Mingyu rummaged in the first aid kit and babbled to himself. "There's even a sore gel in here. It doesn't have the same effect as the gel in the hospital though," he took a short break to make it clear to Wonwoo that they could still go and see a doctor, "but hopefully it'll at least ease your pain a little bit," he ended the sentence when he noticed that Wonwoo didn't seem to respond to his hint. Wonwoo flinched as he felt the cold gel on his skin and kept his eyes closed. 

"You have to sit up straight so I can put the bandage around your stomach," he heard Mingyu say after a few moments and opened his eyes. Mingyu stretched out his hand and helped him to pull himself up in pain. He rolled out the bandage and leaned closer to him to place it around Wonwoo's body. "You have no idea how scared I was when I saw you lying there." He paused briefly in his movement and Wonwoo unconsciously held his breath. "It felt as if someone had shot an arrow through my chest from behind." He leaned back again to close the bandage at the front and Wonwoo noticed how it was glistening around his eyes. He had already wondered that Mingyu hadn't cried once since the incident had happened. He knew Mingyu better than anyone else and his big puppy-like friend was always crying about people who were hurt. 

"I'm sorry," Wonwoo let out, because he couldn't think of anything better at that moment. Mingyu looked at him, shaking his head and took the pain gel out of the kit again. "I will put something on your cheek as well. It looks already green and blue." He leaned forward, cupped Wonwoo's chin with one hand and started to work. Wonwoo looked at his friend up close and was suddenly infinitely grateful that he cared so much for him. He flinched as Mingyu smeared some ointment on his cracked lip. "You have to go to the police and report Lee. And we have to tell our manager." Mingyu began to speak when he leaned back. 

Wonwoo closed his eyes for a moment. "Mingyu, the man was masked, I couldn't even see his eyes properly. You can't just blame one of our staff just because you have a funny feeling about him." Mingyu closed the first aid kit and put it on the drawer next to the bed. "There's no point in filing a complaint at the police station, because I can't describe the culprit anyway and what's the point of causing a stir? If it goes to the press and to the fans and to our members -I don't want all of this. I just want to forget it as soon as possible." Mingyu was still silent and inspected the bandage he had put around Wonwoo before pulling his shirt down again. 

"Wonwoo. When you went to the toilet, he was suddenly gone." Wonwoo stood up and put a hand on his stomach. The cool ointment made it a little better. He stood in front of the mirror hanging from the wall and inspected his face. "Damn it. No way it looks like you slammed the door in my face." Mingyu groaned because Wonwoo did not react to his remark. Wonwoo turned around, facing him. "Then maybe he went home earlier or he really went to the toilet where I obviously never arrived. Mingyu please, where would he suddenly get the mask from and why are you accusing him at all?“ It frustrated him that his friend seemed so worried about it. 

"Why don't you accuse him? Didn't you notice that he always stares at you and touches you?“ Mingyu´s mood became more unpleasant and he stood up. "I told you after our performance that something was wrong with this guy and then this all really happened.“ Wonwoo stepped forward but paused in his movement when he noticed a tear rolling down Mingyu's cheek. "The guy is a sick pervert and I have no idea where they found him, but when I see him again, God help him." 

Wonwoo felt bad that his friend had to go through all of this. "Can't you just let it go?" That question triggered a nerve in Mingyu because he suddenly stomped his foot angrily. "Damn it, no, Wonwoo! And it makes me angry that you can just let it go. Didn't you just see your face in the mirror? You didn't even dare to look at your wound on your abdomen. You can hardly stand upright because it hurts so much. I don't want to start with the emotional pain at all. And yet you tell me to leave it alone? Damn it, no!" He cried out, ran past him and shut the hotel room door behind him with a loud thud.

Wonwoo stood still, staring at the closed door. Tears kept coming back. Frustrated, he tossed his hair for a moment and slowly sat down on the bed again. Mingyu wasn't his roommate this time, so he wouldn't come back. "Fuck it. Fuck this night." He took a look at the clock on the bedside table. It was already midnight. He simply decided to go to bed and forget the whole day. How he should explain his face to Seungcheol, his room neighbor -he didn't want to answer that question today. Wonwoo put Mingyu's sweater on the chair, which had earlier slipped from his shoulders onto the bed. He sighed and thought of his friend. He always got so carried away with something and then he exploded when things didn't suit him. Wonwoo knew Mingyu meant well and was worried, but he wanted to decide for himself how and what to do next. After all, he was almost a year older. "I am the hyung." After it felt like it took him 15 minutes to get out of his shirt and put on his nightshirt, Wonwoo went to bed tired. To his surprise he fell asleep immediately. 

-

Thud. Wonwoo shot up when he heard a bang. It was pitch dark and he couldn't see anything, but there was clearly someone in the room. Panic rose in him and he looked at the clock. It was 02:08 AM. Someone was moving in the room and Wonwoo remained motionless and ignored the stabbing pain in his abdomen. "Who is there?" he whispered and expected someone to come at him. 

"Wonwoo?" The voice belonged to none other than Mingyu. A stone fell from Wonwoo's heart before he got angry. "Yah! What are you doing in the dark? Why are you in my room at all? You scared the hell out of me!" He heard Mingyu searching the wall for the light switch. "Wait a minute," he let out and hit a chair with his leg before it got light in the room. Wonwoo hadn't moved a bit and as his eyes got used to the brightness, he stared angrily at Mingyu. Mingyu standing there in his bear pyjama. One of the two chairs was lying on the floor. He must have knocked it over when he had come into the room and torn him out of his sleep. 

"Mingyu, what the hell?" The latter had put on his guilty facial expression as he made his way to the other bed. "I didn't want to scare you and I didn't turn on the light so I wouldn't wake you." Wonwoo rubbed his eyes tiredly. "Well, that worked out wonderfully," he said ironically and stared again at the most clumsy member of Seventeen. "What are you doing here?" Mingyu sat down on Seungcheol's bed and looked over to Wonwoo. "I went back to the Chinese restaurant. Then I talked to Seungcheol that you are not feeling so well and that I would like to sleep in your room. We exchanged our room cards and here I am. Tada". Wonwoo looked at him with a blank expression. Mingyu was sometimes really unpredictable. "Why?" Mingyu scratched his neck. "I thought you didn't want to have to explain to Seungcheol why you look the way you look."

"Whether he's my roommate or not, he'd see me in the morning anyway." Mingyu fidgeted nervously in bed. "Why?" Wonwoo asked again and didn't care that he was dog-tired. "I didn't want you to be alone with your injuries and-" Wonwoo shook his head, Mingyu was looking for excuses. "Why are you really here, Gyu?" he asked him after a deep sigh. Mingyu sulked and slid to the edge of his bed. "I had a guilty conscience that I stormed out so angrily earlier." Wonwoo nodded. Finally he told the truth. "And?" Mingyu sulked further. "And after you've been through so much, I just left you alone in your hotel room." 

"And?" Wonwoo could hardly keep his eyes open, but somehow he couldn't just let Mingyu sleep here without at least winding him up. „And I'm sorry I'm such an ass. And I don't want you to be alone here. And I want to undo everything. And I wish you didn't have to experience that today. And I love you so much and it hurts my soul when we argue." Wonwoo could not resist a smile. He slid in his bed to the left side. "Come here." Mingyu looked at him in amazement. "You're not angry anymore?" he asked surprised, but already lifted his long legs out of bed. "Mingyu, I was never angry. You took care of me all evening long and treated my wounds and prevented the worst. How could I be angry about you sneaking into my hotel room at night and knocking over the chair loudly?" 

Mingyu raised a little smile before sulking again. He rushed to Wonwoo´s bed, but before he could sit on it, Wonwoo stuck out his hand. "Turn off the light first. And if you then manage to return to my bed, you can lie next to me.“ Mingyu pulled his cell phone out of his pyiama pocket. "Fortunately, I have a flashlight App on it." Wonwoo lay down again and rolled his eyes. " I'm glad you used it earlier when you snuck into the room." he joked. Mingyu snorted, turned off the light and crawled into bed to Wonwoo. 

Although they were over 20 years old, it was nothing unusual for the two friends to sleep together in one bed. Especially when they both missed their families or were sad, one always offered the other his closeness and comfort. And even if Wonwoo would never admit it, he sometimes needed Mingyu´s cuddles more than he thought. Sometimes even much more. It had been quiet since Mingyu had climbed into bed with him. After a while Wonwoo noticed that his puppy friend was moving closer to him. " Hyung." Although it was pitch dark, Wonwoo knew he was pouting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the Kudos :)  
> Stay tuned for the next chapter~


	3. THREE

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mingyu and Wonwoo want to reveal the truth.

_Hard times will always reveal true friends_  
Unkown

~ ~ ~

"Hyung." Mingyu slipped closer to his friend until their shoulders touched. He turned to the side and tried to see something in the darkness. " Mingyu." Wonwoo´s voice resounded very soft and exhausted in the dark hotel room. "Does it still hurt a lot?" He felt Wonwoo move a little. "Don't worry. Everything will be fine.“ The answer did not make Mingyu happy. " Hyung." Wonwoo stirred again. " Mingyu." He wanted to put his arm around his friend, but halted when he remembered that Wonwoo was very likely still in a lot of pain. "Sleep Mingyu." Mingyu nodded although no one could see him. 

He leaned on his back and exhaled deeply. He lacked the touch to snuggle up to something and although Wonwoo would be perfect for that, he couldn't trust himself to not accidentally push him too hard into the wound while asleep. "What's the matter?" he heard Wonwoo whispering and sliding towards him so that their shoulders touched again. "Nothing. I don't want to hurt you in my sleep because I accidentally pressure myself against your wound or something like that.“ He paused. "Maybe I should just lie down in the other bed." Before he could move, Wonwoo grabbed his hand in the dark. "Stay." 

Mingyu turned his hand and intertwined his fingers with Wonwoo´s. "If you hurt me, I'll throw you off the bed," Wonwoo muttered sleepily. He squeezed his hand and a smile spread over Mingyu´s lips. "I will not hurt you. Mothers sleep next to their newborns and don't hurt them either." Wonwoo snorted softly. "Yah, Kim Mingyu, are you telling me I'm a baby?" Mingyu grinned and squeezed Wonwoo's hand gently. "Sleep now." He didn't have to tell him that twice, because just a few minutes later he heard quiet breathing noises from his friend. 

-

A punch in the ribs and a scream made Mingyu startle in his sleep. He opened his eyes and first had to orient himself where he was. "No, not ... please." Wonwoo had to have a nightmare. He tossed and turned in the bed and kept on punching the air around him. Mingyu quickly turned on the bedside lamp and received another punch to his side. He grabbed Wonwoo's arm and tried to keep him still. "Wonwoo. Wonwoo, wake up." He ran his other hand through Wonwoo's hair, which clung sweatily to his forehead. "Wonwoo, wake up," he shouted louder now.

Wonwoo opened his eyes, horror was written all over his face. He stared emotionlessly at Mingyu for a few seconds. "You had a nightmare," he took the hand of Wonwoo´s arm and rubbed his eyes tiredly. "Sorry I woke you," Wonwoo mumbled suddenly. "Stop apologizing. Are you all right again?" Wonwoo nodded and pulled the blanket up to his chin, which was trembling slightly. 

Mingyu turned off the light, snuggled up to his friend and gently put an arm around his waist. "Does that hurt?" Wonwoo cuddled closer to Mingyu so that his head lay on his chest. "I'll take that as a no." He could feel Wonwoo´s steady breath on his cheek a few seconds later and wondered if his friend had already fallen back asleep. "I will kill Lee anyway," he whispered into the darkness before sleep caught up with him as well. 

-

The next morning was hectic. Everyone had to pack their things quickly and then they went back pretty early to rehearse for the next event in the late afternoon. The members were all very baffled about Wonwoo´s cheek, but since Chan had already warned them in the restaurant, nobody asked for more explanations. But remarks like "Mingyu, you are such a klutz" and "Typical, Gyu" Mingyu had to endure anyway. But for the latter it was only half as bad. He was glad that Wonwoo seemed in a good mood and Mingyu always stayed close to him. 

He hadn't dealt with the subject Lee anymore, also because Wonwoo and him always had at least two other members around them since they woke up this morning. After lunch everyone went to the rehearsal room. The first staff members were already present. Mingyu was joking with Hoshi as they entered the room. "You are always like this, Gyu. You can't tell me anything else because-" Mingyu stopped abruptly and so did Hoshi. "What is it?" In the corner, next to a cameraman who always recorded the episodes for GoingSeventeen, there was actually Lee. He leaned against the wall, his hands were buried deep in his pockets and he had a grin on his face, which Mingyu wanted to kick out of him with his foot. 

" Mingyu?" Hoshi put a hand on his shoulder with a crease of worry. "Everything is fine. I just thought I had forgotten something," Mingyu lied. He hated lying to his members, but he did what Wonwoo wanted him to do and as much as he loved all the others of Seventeen, Wonwoo was still more important to him. Hoshi nodded and moved to sit on the bench next to Chan. Mingyu thought about what to do next. He had two choices. He could go to the others, change his shoes and pretend as if nothing ever happened or he could go to Lee, really kick him in the face and drag him out of this room to banish him forever. With last night's pictures in his head, he quickly opted for option 2 and headed straight for the new staff member as Wonwoo suddenly stepped in his way. 

"Move." Mingyu was angry. "No." Wonwoo gave him an evil look. The crack on his lip was barely visible, but his cheek looked even worse than yesterday. "Move." Wonwoo shook his head. "You won't cause a stir here now, Gyu." 

"I won't be in the same room with him. I won't let him be in a room with you, and neither will you," he hissed at his friend. "Now move." Wonwoo shook his head. "No." He approached closer and still stared up at him angrily. "I can't believe you're still accusing him even though the culprit wore a mask and you have no evidence at all that it was Lee." Mingyu snorted and leaned closer to him. "And I can't believe that your abdomen is probably causing hellish pain because you're still walking slightly bent and you're nevertheless here to dance. And now move." 

" No!" 

" Wonwoo." 

" Mingyu." 

"Hey you two, what are you bickering about?" Mingyu lifted his eyes from Wonwoo´s glare when Seungcheol approached them. 

"The vein on your neck is protruding. What did bite you, Gyu?" Seungcheol looked from one to the other. Wonwoo still stared at Mingyu madly. He sighed. If he said one word about Lee at this point, Wonwoo would probably never forgive him. He hated that his friend had such power over him. 

"Nothing," he replied somewhat defiantly, throwing another evil look at Wonwoo before turning around to join the others. As he left, he heard Seungcheol telling Wonwoo that he shouldn't have changed the beds at the hotel. 

The rehearsal was to take place with the earpieces and when the staff began to help the members fasten them, Mingyu's patience was used up. Out of the corner of his eye he watched Lee making his way towards Wonwoo and was already standing behind him. Mingyu immediately rushed over to both of them and grabbed Lee by the arm, pushing him away from his friend. "You touch him once and regret having started here as a staff," he let out through gritted teeth. 

He immediately felt Wonwoo grab his arm from behind. He didn't miss the fact that the first members also noticed the incident, but he didn't care. "Mingyu," Wonwoo hissed behind him and slowly pulled him away from Lee. The latter just stood there motionless, playing the innocent lamb that had no idea of anything. "We go out for a moment. Mingyu is not feeling well," he heard Wonwoo saying and then his friend dragged him out of the rehearsal room, leaving their members with questioning looks behind. 

Wonwoo had his grip firmly around Mingyu's wrist and stomped outside. Mingyu stumbled along.  
Every single part of Wonwoo's body spoke volumes. He was more than angry. But so was Mingyu. Only when they stepped outside he let go of the giant and kicked a paper cup, which was lying around in the parking lot. "I'm just so fucking mad at you," he let out, but still had his back to him. 

"Congratulations. I'm fucking mad at you too!" Mingyu walked around Wonwoo to face him. "This bastard is-" "Mingyu, stop it!" Wonwoo shouted and it was the first time he turned his voice against him. "I don't know in which language I have to tell you that you understand. The man from yesterday, if it was a man at all, had a mask on and-" Mingyu waved off. "Tell me something new." Wonwoo snorted. "I hate you so much right now." 

He sat down on the curb and bent his legs. Mingyu did not miss his pain distorted face. "I can't go on like this Wonwoo. I can't just leave it alone. I know you want to forget all of that, but if it really was Lee, then-" "Let's find out." Mingyu sat down next to Wonwoo on the cold curb. "What?“ He stared at his shoes. 

"We test him. We put him in a situation where he can show if he really is the one you accuse him of being.“ Mingyu tried to follow Wonwoo's thoughts. "And how will you test him?" Wonwoo shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know. Something tempting. I happen to be alone with him in a room and-" Mingyu shook his head. "I'll never leave you alone with him." Wonwoo looked at him and sighed, "He doesn't need to know. He must think that I am alone and then we catch him in the act. Or not at all.“ 

Mingyu wasn't sure if he liked the idea, but at least it was one step closer to getting rid of Lee. For him it was quite clear that he was the culprit. His feeling just couldn't fool him. His anger faded and he inhaled deeply. "Okay. I hate to let you anywhere near him, but that's better than doing nothing, I guess." He stood up and stretched out his hand to Wonwoo. 

"Under one condition, Gyu." Mingyu paused and put his head in an oblique position. "If I test him and he does nothing and I tell you after that that I didn't see a bit of desire in his eyes for me," he paused, reached for Mingyu's hand and let himself be pulled up, "then you believe me and let the subject rest." He stood only a few centimetres in front of him, his eyes almost begging him. Mingyu nodded. "Agreed." 

" Fine." 

" Fine." Mingyu scratched the back of his head. "Hyung, do you..." Wonwoo nudged Mingyu's belly. "No, I don't hate you." He withheld a smile. "I didn't want to yell at you. I'm sorry." Wonwoo looked embarrassed on the ground. Mingyu patted his head. "It's okay, hyung. I know you love me." Wonwoo raised his head and rolled his eyes. " You wish. " 

-

Two days later a photo shoot with a Japanese magazine was planned and Mingyu and Wonwoo decided to lure Lee into the trap that day. But that was easier thought than done. There were always either other members nearby or other people from the staff. And how should they bring Wonwoo and Lee into one room? The test threatened to fail. 

Mingyu was posing with Hoshi and Chan for a picture when Wonwoo stood behind the photographer and pointed both thumbs up. Mingyu wasn't sure if he liked the pose for the picture or if he had finally caught Lee alone, but when Wonwoo left again, Mingyu got nervous. 

When the best photo was finally taken, Mingyu hurried out of the room to find Wonwoo. He found him sitting in an armchair in front of the dressing room with his cell phone in his hand. When he noticed him, he looked up at him and put it away. "It's not him." Mingyu sat next to him. "I caught him alone in the dressing room earlier. He had picked up the garbage there." Mingyu shuddered that his friend had been alone with him. "You shouldn't have done that test all by yourself." 

Wonwoo waved off. "Mingyu, it's okay, nothing happened. We were all alone. I went inside, sat in front of him and pretended to have to change my shirt for the next photo shoot." Mingyu opened his mouth in shock. "Gyu, he didn't look at me with one eye. I felt like the last seducer. Then I asked him how he was doing after you attacked him two days ago.“ 

Mingyu shook his head. "He's good." Wonwoo stared at him in surprise. "What?“ Mingyu stood up and ran his hand through his hair. "Wonwoo, he acted. He is smarter than I thought. You were attacked by him three days ago. I blamed him a day later and suddenly you came into the dressing room, taking off your shirt in front of him. He immediately understood that it was a test." Wonwoo stared at him and got up as well. "Mingyu." 

"He had no mask on. Why would he attack you in the middle of the day when any second one of the others could have gotten into the dressing room?" Wonwoo sighed and crossed his arms in front of his chest: "He didn't look at me. I felt like I was the most unattractive person there is. Mingyu, you promised me." Mingyu shook his head. "The test was not good.“

Wonwoo got angry. "I don't care. I was alone with him and had undressed myself naked at the top. He reacted zero and so he passed the test. That means that the subject is over for me. And for you too," he poked a finger into Mingyu's chest. "What about his eyes?" the latter asked suddenly. Wonwoo looked at him in surprise. "What about his eyes? It was dark. I didn't see his eyes as he-" Mingyu shook his head. "No. I mean just right now. Did you look him in the eyes?" 

"Yes, but what-" Mingyu grabbed Wonwoo's arm. "Wonwoo, were his eyes red or was there something strange about them?" Wonwoo shrugged his shoulders. "I didn't look at him so intensively. He must have stood two meters away from me. I was also a little nervous that I had to undress in front of him by the way." Mingyu ran his hand through his hair, like he did it pretty often these past days. "Why are you asking?“ 

"Wonwoo, you said you poked him in the eyes with both fingers." Wonwoo opened his mouth when he finally understood what Mingyu meant. "Oh."

But then he shook his head. "It's been three days." "The eyes are very sensitive Won, I'm pretty sure they're still at least slightly irritated and you can see that." Wonwoo suddenly grinned at Mingyu. "Then this is the perfect opportunity. You go to him, apologize for your behavior and look him straight in the eye." The idea was not bad. "And if his eyes are flawless, Gyu, we'll let this subject rest forever, okay?" He stood on his toes to be at eye level with Mingyu. "Good. But when I see something reddish in his eyes, I hit him immediately." 

Wonwoo shook his head. "You won't do that. Then maybe we will know, but we have absolutely no proof for the others. He could report you for assault." He took a thoughtful break. "I don't know if this is such a good idea after all." Mingyu waved off. "No, no, no. That's what we do. It's the best idea you ever had," he took a break when Wonwoo looked at him with a worry line, "don't worry, I'll pull myself together." He patted the cheek of the older one who brought out a laugh. "That's exactly what I don't believe."


	4. FOUR

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mingyu gets hurt, Wonwoo worried.

_Because brothers don´t let each other wander in the dark alone._ Unkown 

~ ~ ~

After his arrangement with Mingyu, Wonwoo was called in for a photo shoot with the 96 liners. He wasn't a big fan of posing for pictures, but his members always made him feel comfortable and enjoy the shoot. He couldn't be completely relaxed as his thoughts kept wandering to Mingyu and Lee. What if Mingyu were to meet the new staff member right now and actually spot something in his eyes? Wonwoo wouldn't be there to prevent something worse. He knew how impulsive Mingyu could be. "Wonwoo, relax your face," the photographer exclaimed. 

Only a few moments later Chan rushed into the room with a shocking expression on his face. "Mingyu is hurt." Wonwoo freezed. "There is blood... someone... someone stabbed him in the side." Tears ran out of his eyes as he spoke in a stuttering voice. For a fraction of a second, Wonwoo stopped breathing. From a distance they could hear the siren of an ambulance. 

"Chan, where is he?" one of the others called out, but Wonwoo did not notice which of them. As if stung by a tarantula, he started sprinting on shaky legs, although he didn't even know exactly where to go. He ran out into the long corridor and could already hear the worried voices. He approached the recording room, where the rest of the members and some of the staff were standing in a semicircle around someone. 

Wonwoo swallowed hard and his body only functioned automatically as he pushed himself forward. "How could anyone get in here?" he heard Jihoon murmur with a pale face. When Wonwoo finally had a clear view, his heart pounded so much in his chest that his ribcage began hurting. Immediately a sickness arose in him, but he pulled himself together. His Mingyu was lying on the floor. His eyes were closed, his hands full of blood. Blood that seemed to come from the side where his shirt was torn. One of the staff pressed a thick towel firmly onto the wound. He almost looked dead. 

Wonwoo knelt on the floor next to Seungcheol and reached for Mingyu´s bloodstained hand. "Mingyu," he whispered and squeezed his lifeless hand. A tear rolled down his cheek. His heart hurt so much in his chest that it almost tore him apart. He intertwined their fingers and held their hands close to his body. "Open your eyes," he exclaimed. "Marie [one of the staff] found him here," Seungcheol whispered next to him. Hot tears rolled over Wonwoo´s cheeks. 

"He must have passed out in pain. He was still conscious when I found him," Marie explained. "Mingyu", Wonwoo bent forward and patted Mingyu's cheek with his free hand. "Your hyung is here. It's rude not to look me in the eye when I'm talking to you." He wiped the loose strands of hair out of his eyes. "Open your eyes." 

It became turbulent behind him as the paramedics ran into the room and pushed the others aside. "Please make way." Seungcheol grabbed Wonwoo's arm and pulled him away from Mingyu. "Hello, can you hear me?" Wonwoo watched one of the paramedics hit Mingyu on the cheek several times. "His pulse is weak," commented the other and Wonwoo leaned against the wall, Seungcheol's arm still lying around his shoulder, supporting him. 

They huddled over Mingyu for a while before maneuvering him onto a stretcher and carrying him out. "I'll go with him," Wonwoo said as they loaded Mingyu into the ambulance. "And what is your relationship with the victim?" Wonwoo hated that he called Mingyu a victim. "I am his brother." It wasn't the truth, but it wasn't a lie either. Mingyu was Wonwoo´s family. He spent more time with him than with his real brother. Even his mother called him her third son. 

"Come with me, but please don't touch anything." The paramedic didn't seem to know Seventeen and their names, because he would have quickly realized that the two were not brothers. Wonwoo nodded into the round and his members waved. "We'll follow immediately," Seungcheol promised and offered Wonwoo a sweater. Wonwoo wore only a thin shirt after the shooting and noticed only now that he was shaking. Thankfully he reached for the sweater before one of the paramedics closed the door. 

In the ambulance, Wonwoo grabbed Mingyu's hand again and watched the paramedic secure Mingyu. "It's gonna be okay," he tried to reassure Wonwoo. "Don't you say that to everybody?" The paramedic stared at him. "I'm sorry." Wonwoo was confused and didn't want to get bitchy. 

"Won", it sounded so soft that he hardly noticed it because of the loud siren, but when he looked at Mingyu's face, the latter had his eyes half open, gazing at him. "Gyu!" he exclaimed and starting moving closer, but the paramedic reached out a hand to stop him. "Can you hear me?" He started again with his usual questions and Wonwoo tightened his hold on Mingyu's hand. Mingyu turned to the paramedic and nodded. "Do you know your name?" Wonwoo got impatient as the paramedic started rattling down his whole checklist of questions and Mingyu either nodded or shook his head. He was weak and in pain, Wonwoo was able to tell. 

"Wonwoo, what´s with that face? You look ugly." Mingyu tried to joke, but Wonwoo didn't laugh. He bent over and gave him a peck on the forehead. "I thought you were dead, you asshole." He gave him another peck and leaned back, wiping his wet cheeks. "You shocked your brother," the paramedic interfered and Wonwoo cursed inwardly. It was really great that it was his job to save lives, but he annoyed him with his smart remarks. "Brother?" Mingyu released a brief chuckle, but then he twisted his face in pain. 

The paramedic checked Mingyu's blood pressure. His eyes were now fully open and he didn't let his gaze wander from Wonwoo. "We are in the hospital in two minutes, the patient is awake," said the paramedic at the steering wheel into his headset. "Won." Wonwoo felt Mingyu squeezing his hand so hard that it almost hurt. "I'm fine. You don't have to-" 

"Mingyu, you were stabbed in the side with a knife and you lost plenty of blood and were unconscious for a long time. You are not fucking fine, so stop saying that." Wonwoo snapped and the paramedic looked at him in shock, but Mingyu just smiled. "You were worried. That's all right. But now you can smile again, your face is totally tense." 

"Stop caring about me. You're the one lying on a stretcher." Wonwoo's eyes watered again. The deep shock slowly disappeared from him and there was a certain relief that his friend was awake again and that made Wonwoo emotional. The ambulance stopped and Mingyu was wheeled to the hospital by the paramedics. Wonwoo followed silently and was grateful for Seungcheol's sweater, which at least warmed him up a little as they climbed outside. 

-

" You have to wait here," a nurse blocked his path as they rolled Mingyu into a treatment room. "Sit in the waiting area or get yourself a cup of coffee." 

Wonwoo ran a hand through his hair, worried as hell and made his way to the waiting area, hoping that his members would arrive soon. He felt lost, completely on his own. He sat down on a chair next to the water dispenser and looked around. There were only two more people in there. The waiting area was especially for the relatives of the patients who were admitted to the emergency room. 

He sighed and let his head fall into his hands. The last days were incredibly nerve-racking and tiring. He had just halfway overcome the shock of what had happened at the Chinese restaurant and now he was so worried about Mingyu that it made him more desperate. 

-

Some time passed when the first members finally arrived. Wonwoo, who had almost fallen asleep with his head leaning against the wall, stood up when Seungcheol approached him and wrapped his arms around him. "He woke up in the ambulance," Wonwoo mumbled and the others breathed a sigh of relief. "He was in visible pain, but fit enough to make jokes." 

They all sat down on the chairs. "The police arrived before. The media have already got ahold of that." Wonwoo nodded. Had Mingyu been there now, he probably would have told him that now was the right time to tell about his incident three days earlier, but Wonwoo had no strength for it and he didn't want to shock his members even more. 

"I can't believe someone would break into our building and stab Mingyu. That makes no sense.“ Wonwoo looked at Junhui. "Maybe nobody broke in." He didn't know why he said that, but now it was out. "What do you mean by that?“ Four pairs of eyes looked at him in surprise. "Maybe the culprit was already in the house.“ 

"Wonwoo, you are exhausted. You're talking nonsense,“ Seungcheol began and patted his head. "You mean one of us?“ Junhui asked and Wonwoo looked at him sceptical. "No, of course not. But maybe someone from the staff. How well do we know these people anyway?“

Seungcheol stood up to fill a paper cup with water. "Wonwoo, the staff has been with us since our pre debut. What are you talking about?" "Not all of them." Junhui also got up to get himself a drink. "Marie has only been with us for two years and Lee for no more than two months." Seungcheol laughed briefly. "Jun, you mean sweet and caring Marie attacked Mingyu?" The Chinese member shook his head. "I just wanted to say that two of them haven't been around for that long." 

"Wonwoo is messed up because of Mingyu and what happened. It's okay that-" Wonwoo suddenly got up and was about to scream that the culprit was Lee when the middleaged nurse from earlier entered. "He's doing fine. The knife only went deep into the flesh, but didn't reach any important organs. He is awake, but very exhausted. Maybe only one person should come in first, he might fall asleep soon. But he asked for his brother." The nurse glanced at Wonwoo with her eyebrows raised, Junhui let out a chuckle. "Thank you nurse," Wonwoo just said and followed her. 

"I know you. You are all from Seventeen. He's not your brother, is he?" she asked him softly when she escorted him to Mingyu's door. Wonwoo didn't answer, but was surprised that the nurse, who should be in her forties, knew them. He opened the door and the nurse went back smiling. 

The room smelled more like a hospital than it did in the waiting area. As Wonwoo entered, he realised there was only Mingyu in the room. The blanket went up to his chin, only his arms were above it. They had put an infusion on his left arm. Mingyu looked pale, but his face was no longer so pain distorted. 

He was looking out the window and it wasn't until Wonwoo came closer to the bed that he noticed him. "Oh, I thought you were the nurse," he said and beamed at Wonwoo. The latter had to control himself not to sob out loud. The last exhausting days had turned him into an emotional mess. He took a chair and placed it next to Mingyu´s bed. "How are you?" He reached for Mingyu´s hand and the younger one intertwined their fingers straightaway. 

"Although I was just stabbed, pretty good, I have to say," he grinned, Wonwoo didn't laugh. "I even think I still look better than you do at the moment," the giant continued and received a snort from Wonwoo as a response. "It's hard to look good when a giant puppy worries me all the time." Mingyu smiled gently and squeezed Wonwoo's hand. The latter grabbed the blanket with his other hand and lifted it slightly to take a look at Mingyu´s wound. 

"Yah, what are you doing?" he exclaimed in surprise and hit his hand away. "I want to see what the wound looks like." Mingyu put the blanket back over him. "There is nothing to see. There's a bandage around my entire side and that's it. If you want to see me naked down there, please feel free," he teased and Wonwoo blushed. "Shut up." 

He smiled with relief because Mingyu seemed to be doing much better than he had feared. There was also absolutely no tiredness to be found. Only now did Wonwoo understand how bad all this could have been. "What are you thinking?“ Wonwoo was fidgeting on his chair. "I feel like crying now." When he said that, tears already popped up in his eyes. He really became an emotional mess.

Mingyu tried to sit a little more upright. "Hyung, don't cry. I'm fine, see?" He grinned at him broadly to convince him. But Wonwoo was heartbroken. "I was worried sick. When Chan told us that you were bleeding and hurt, the air to breathe was gone. I have-" Mingyu pulled him closer with his intertwined hand. "Hyung, you make me sad. Come here." 

Wonwoo stood up from the chair and Mingyu slid aside to make room for him. Wonwoo sat down on the edge of the bed and Mingyu put his arm around his waist. "The others want to see you too." Mingyu nodded quietly. "In a minute." He brought Wonwoo closer to himself. "Don´t. I don't want to hurt you," he let out when his body suddenly touched the side of Mingyu. 

The latter started laughing. "What is so funny?" Mingyu laughed even harder and pinched Wonwoo in the side. "Yah" "Hyung, I have a Déja vu. Didn't we have the same conversation like three days ago? It's as if everything had happened again, only now we're playing reverse roles." 

Wonwoo let out a breath. "But that's not a movie, idiot and that's nothing to laugh about. You could have been dead." A tear rolled down his cheek when he said that. "Hyung, you're killing me right now. Stop it," Mingyu whined and raised his hand to wipe Wonwoo's cheek. 

"You know I never say that because I don't like to express myself emotionally, but I love you very much." Wonwoo´s heart suddenly beat faster as he was telling Mingyu that. He was embarrassed and turned his head the other way. He had never said anything like that before. Not to Mingyu and not to another member. He was not a man who put emotions into words. Except in songs. Of course he loved them all, but saying that was another thing. 

"Hyung," Mingyu let out in amazement and Wonwoo still didn't look at him. "Do I really have to be stabbed so that you tell me you love me?" Wonwoo smiled, but turned his head to be surprised with a kiss on his cheek. "Yah!“ Mingyu grinned from ear to ear and clasped his hands, squealing like a girl. "Yah, stop it." He paused and looked at his puppy friend. "I'll get the others now." 

Mingyu reached for his arm as he moved. "Wait a moment. I wanted to tell you something else." His voice was more serious again. "I didn't see who it was. I looked for Lee and when I went to the recording room someone jumped at me from behind, pushed me into the dark room and rammed the knife into my side." Wonwoo swallowed hard and glanced at his friend. "I went down and the culprit was gone. That means we're just as smart as before." 

Wonwoo shook his head. "No Gyu, I'm pretty sure it's Lee. He must have listened to our conversation, and when I suggested that you should look after his eyes and you suspected him anyway from the start, he had to get rid of you." Mingyu looked at him and sulked. "When you were attacked, you didn't believe me that it was Lee. And now.-" 

Wonwoo stood up and immediately missed his friend's warmth. "I will tell the police everything, Mingyu. And also the others and our management. Before it was all about me, but now you're in the middle and I can't risk him getting too close to you again." Mingyu sneered. "Look who's talking now. Who is the overprotective now?" Wonwoo grinned. "I am your hyung. It's my job to protect you." Mingyu smiled. "Because you love me?" Wonwoo waved off. "I'll get the others."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A little bit dramatic, a little bit of love  
> ~Thank you again for the Kudos, you are the best <3


	5. FIVE

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mingyu leaves the hospital and bumps into Lee

Face down in the desert now there’s a cage locked around my heart  
I found a way to drop the keys where my failures were  
Now my hands can’t reach that far  
I ain’t made for a rivalry, I could never take the world alone  
I know that in my weakness I am stronger  
It’s your love that brings me home  
-Needtobreathe

~ ~ ~

Mingyu sat upright on his bed and tried to bend down to put on his socks. His side still hurt. It was his third day in the hospital and after they had left him for another night for monitoring, he would be released today. He was happy. It was lonely lying all alone in the room, at night he could hardly sleep a bit because he always had weird pictures in his mind. 

"Kim Mingyu, can I help you?" asked Jang-mi, the nurse who had taken good care of him in the last two days and was just entering the room when Mingyu pulled the second sock over his bare foot with a pain-distorted face. "No, I can do this." He had already completely changed his clothes and was waiting to be picked up -even if the next destination would be the police station. 

"You were really lucky," said the nurse and stopped in front of him to take a look at his bandage. "Your fans are very worried about you. It's all over the media." Mingyu sighed. He would have liked to have avoided this incident becoming public. He could understand Wonwoo well now when he didn't want anyone to be informed after he was attacked. 

"Your band member, Jeon Wonwoo, had pretended to be your brother in front of my colleagues. He was very worried about you. It is nice to have such friends." Mingyu looked up at her and could not resist a grin. "I am very grateful for him. All members of Seventeen are real treasures". 

After the nurse had left, the door was opened again a few minutes later and Wonwoo peered his head in the room. "Are you changing right now?" Mingyu laughed and was happy to see his hyung again. "No, Wonwoo. I'm not naked anymore. It's not like you've never seen me change before anyway." 

Wonwoo stepped in and stormed towards his friend. „At least once I wanted to give you some privacy." Mingyu stood up and stretched out his arms for a hug that Wonwoo immediately accepted. He pressed him tightly to himself and enjoyed his friend's warm presence. 

"I'm so happy to get out of here," he muttered. "I'm so glad you're all right," Wonwoo mumbled back. When they let go of each other, Mingyu realized how exhausted his friend looked. As if he knew what the next question would be, the latter sat down on his bed and spoke. 

"I told the management and our members yesterday." Mingyu sat next to him. "At first they couldn't believe it, then I showed them my wound, which is slowly fading but still quite colourful. They were angry because I had lied to them." Mingyu put an arm around his shoulder. "When I started charging Lee, everyone was dumbfounded. The management couldn't understand it and didn't really believe me. They said we are both too shocked by the incidents to think clearly." 

He exhaled deeply. "I then went to the police and told them everything. They made the report, and they want to listen to your story today. But they said that since we have absolutely no proof that it's Lee, they can't do anything. A bad feeling and a sense from our side wouldn't be enough to interrogate Lee." Mingyu gritted his teeth and clenched a fist. 

"I can't be in a room where he is and pretend that everything is okay," Wonwoo whispered now and Mingyu turned over to him. A tear ran down his cheek and Mingyu´s heart broke at the sight. His friend was going through way too much and he felt sorry that he had to handle everything on his own the past two days. 

"Wonwoo", he wiped over his cheek with his free hand. "You have to think about your hip-hop image," he joked, but Wonwoo looked at him seriously. "I'm sorry that I didn't believe you. Now I know what that feels like." Mingyu pushed him closer to himself. "Hyung stop, it was-" 

Wonwoo shook his head. "No, I'm serious, Gyu. You are one of the people that is closest to me and I should have reacted immediately to your feelings and thoughts. I should have taken you seriously. I am a bad-" Mingyu took his arm away and grabbed Wonwoo's chin to turn his face towards him. "Stop talking such nonsense, okay. Let's get out of here. I'm sure the driver is waiting." 

Wonwoo nodded and sighed as he got up and rubbed his eyes. "Look at me. Within a week I have become an emotional mess who cries more than in the last two years combined.“ He stretched out his hand to help Mingyu stand up. "You were sexually harassed and I was stabbed with a knife. I think you have the right to be emotionally fucked up." He reached for Wonwoo's hand and let himself be pulled up. 

-

After Mingyu had reported his incident to the police and let them telling him the same thing as to Wonwoo, both friends returned to the others. After everyone had warmly welcomed Mingyu back, he was instructed to take at least two days off from practice. Mingyu sulked because he quickly got bored and while his members were training in the practice room, he was sitting in the kitchen, being bored. After the incident, the management had given Lee forced leave -not because they believed Mingyu's and Wonwoo's accusations, but because they don't want to add more stress to Mingyu after the attack.

But when the door to the kitchen suddenly opened and Lee came in, Mingyu stopped breathing for a moment. He said, "Hello," as if nothing was wrong, and went straight to the fridge. Mingyu was so confused that he even assumed for a second that he was imagining it. 

Lee grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge, closed it again and leaned against the drawer next to it. He stared at Mingyu and the latter got goose bumps all over his body. "I don't know what you and your friend Wonwoo want from me, but it would be very friendly if you could give me a chance. I just started here and this is really a big step for my career. I don't understand why you want to hurt me." 

Mingyu jumped from his stool and stared at Lee. Now he was sure that he was not only hallucinating, but that Lee was really standing in front of him. He didn't know what to do. "What the-" he let out, but paused when Lee started walking towards him, after closing the kitchen door. 

Mingyu automatically took a step back. "I didn't do anything to you and you have no proof that I did." He came closer and closer until Mingyu at some point felt the wall against his back. He could not step any further. Although Lee was one head shorter, there was something frightening about him. Maybe it was because he had attacked him with a knife before. 

Lee looked briefly at the door to make sure it was really closed and grinned. "I just wanted to have some fun you know. But of course you had to get in my way. You had to come and interrupt us in the backyard of the restaurant. You always have to cling to Wonwoo like that. It's really frustrating." Mingyu's blood froze in his veins. This was Lee standing in front of him, actually admitting that he had attacked Wonwoo. 

"And then you even blame me. You tell Wonwoo, you freak him out even though he never would have suspected me. I had no choice but to shut you up." Now he stood only a few inches in front of him and Mingyu's heart banged out of fear. He was sure that if the staff member pulled out a knife right now, he would not only hit his flesh this time. 

"You can't blame me. Wonwoo is," he took a short break and smiled, "he's so hot and when I first met him in person I couldn't believe that I really got this job." He spoke quietly and kept looking at the door, probably out of fear that someone might come in. „He is just everything I want. His eyes, his hands, his voice. God and I love his smile.“

Suddenly something was triggered in Mingyu. When Lee started talking about Wonwoo like that, the fear disappeared and he started boiling with rage. Before even thinking about what he was doing, he grabbed Lee by the collar and pushed him away, making the other stagger against the table. 

"If you approach him again, I will kill you. But first you go to prison forever." Lee rubbed his neck and laughed briefly. "Before that, you'll go to a lunatic asylum. You can never prove it was me. Never".

"You motherfucker," he ran up to him and clenched his fist as the kitchen door opened. "No, please don't hurt me," Lee suddenly shouted, acting like a victim. Mingyu paused and turned towards the door. " Wonwoo." 

Wonwoo was standing in the door frame, pretty shocked, looking from Lee to Mingyu and then back to Lee. Without warning he stormed forward, pushed Mingyu aside and grabbed Lee by his collar. He punched him directly in the face with his fist so that the latter staggered backwards.

Absentmindely, Mingyu grabbed for his arm as he tried to strike again. "Let me go, Gyu. I will kill him." But Mingyu held him tight because he knew it would harm Wonwoo in the end if he beat Lee up. "You are both insane," Lee shouted and held his nose, which was clearly bleeding. 

"You tried to kill my friend. I'll kill you for that," Wonwoo shouted and tried to break out of Mingyu's grip. Lee smiled at him, covered in blood and took a step back. "We'll see who kills whom first, handsome. And when I'm done with the tall guy, we'll both have fun." Mingyu raged, but was too busy to keep Wonwoo in check. He was still trying to tear himself away. "When you touch him-" 

"What's going on here?" Seungcheol stormed into the kitchen, Hansol close behind him. "What the hell are you doing here?" He stared at all three in shock. "We heard Wonwoo yelling," said Hansol, who also looked from one to the other in complete confusion. 

"He just admitted it," Mingyu said immediately, pointing his free hand at Lee. "He admitted that he attacked Wonwoo and me." Wonwoo glanced at him surprised. Seungcheol and Hansol both looked at Lee, who was still holding his nose. 

"They're both crazy. They both attacked me. He probably broke my nose," he took his hand away to show them his bleeding nose. "Hyung," Mingyu let go of Wonwoo's arm and stepped up to Seungcheol, "we've known each other for so many years. You have to believe me. He just confessed everything to me and now he's pretending to be the victim again.“

Seungcheol stared at Mingyu. He was clearly overwhelmed by the whole situation. "What are you doing here anyway, Lee? You should take two days off,“ Hansol stated. Lee laughed. "Oh, right. There was something. I had completely forgotten about that. I just wanted to get a bottle of water from the kitchen when he attacked me." 

"Fucking liar," Mingyu whispered. He was so overwhelmed by the whole situation that a tear rolled down his cheek. "We should all calm down," Seungcheol said and Mingyu lowered his head as another tear bubbled out of his eye. His side hurt him, it was only now that he became aware of it. 

He held a hand to his bandage and immediately Wonwoo was at his side. "Is everything all right?" He put his hand over Mingyu's and when the latter glanced up at him, he only became sadder. Wonwoo looked really desperate. "Lee, maybe you should go now," Seungcheol said and the staff member nodded. "Okay, but I will at least report this incident to the management." Seungcheol sighed, "I'm sorry," Mingyu approached him. " You're sorry? You apologize to him?" he screamed desperately and felt Wonwoo reach for his arm. "Gyu, calm down," Seungcheol said, "we're all going out of the kitchen for now."

-

Mingyu had put his head into his hands as he was sitting on the sofa in the meeting room. Wonwoo had seated himself next to him with one hand on his thigh. "I can't believe you hit him, Mingyu. He could turn you in, is that even clear to you?" Seungcheol exclaimed, sitting opposite them. Hansol had gone to the others again. 

"I hit him, so don't blame Mingyu," Wonwoo admitted and Seungcheol sighed." Hyung, why don't you believe us? I understand that you didn't buy our speculations before, but that's a different situation now. He confessed it to me. He told me he thought Wonwoo was so hot and wanted to get rid of me because I was in his way." Mingyu felt Wonwoo freeze next to him for a second. He reached for his hand, which was still on his thigh, and they interlaced their fingers. 

Seungcheol looked at their hands and sighed again. "I no longer know what to believe," he muttered and leaned his head against the backrest. "We need to talk to the management, and you should tell them what happened.“ He stood up and Mingyu let go of Wonwoo´s hand and rose as well. "But I want to know if you believe us." Seungcheol took a deep breath. He looked Mingyu in the eyes and nodded. "Of course I believe you," he whispered, "but I can't understand that all this is really happening," he added and left the room. 

Mingyu sank back onto the sofa and Wonwoo immediately leaned his head on his shoulder. "Did he hurt you in the kitchen?" he asked quietly and Mingyu shook his head slowly, staring into the void. "Why didn't you call immediately when he came into the kitchen? Why didn't you run away? He could have done something to you," Wonwoo whined and looked at him. Mingyu reached for his hand. "He had to confess everything to me first. Now I know 100% that he is the culprit." Wonwoo sighed, "And what do we do now? Mingyu leaned his head on Wonwoo´s. "I don't know, Hyung."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So finally here is the next chapter. Started working again after the vacations so it took me longer than usual.  
> Not really sure how to continue with the story or probably should end this soon? Grateful for ideas or comments :)


	6. SIX

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wonwoo got mad at the management and suddenly gets weird feelings around Mingyu.

_You gave me feelings I can´t put into words._  
unknown

~ ~ ~

"Just so I'm getting this straight. Lee offered not to report that I had beaten him if he was allowed to stay as an employee?“ Wonwoo sat in the management office, staring at his manager in bewilderment. 

Two days had passed since the incident. The manager nodded. "And we are more than grateful to him. What do you think would happen if the public got wind of it?“ Wonwoo couldn't believe what he heard. "He attacked Mingyu with a knife and-" The manager stood up behind his desk and slammed his flat hand on the table. Wonwoo flinched. 

"Wonwoo, I don't want to hear another word about it. I know you both experienced tragic things last week and believe me when I tell you I'm really sorry about that. And we are in close contact with the police and hope that both culprits get caught," he paused and then leaned over to Wonwoo. 

"But I don't want to hear another word about you suspecting Lee. When you were attacked, the suspect wore a mask, Mingyu was attacked from behind and never saw the invader. I don't know why you think so badly of Lee, but you have absolutely no proof that it was him." His voice became louder, a sign that the manager was fed up with this issue once and for all. He was usually a calm, considerate man, but when he behaved like that, he was more than pissed off. 

"He has a family, did you know that? He has a little son and a wife and was so happy to take this job.“ Wonwoo ignored these facts and got up as well. "He confessed it to Mingyu in the kitchen.“ The manager shook his head and sat down again. "Wonwoo. Mingyu just came out of the hospital. He still had a strong painkiller inserted. Lee told me that he had twisted everything. He had attacked him directly when he came into the kitchen." 

Wonwoo became angry that an employee who had only been here for a few weeks was believed more than Mingyu, whom management had known for years. "Mingyu was under painkillers, but they have no hallucinating effects. I did some research." 

The manager smiled tiredly. "I know that Mingyu is very important to you and he is important to us as well, whether you believe it or not, but you both are so focused on seeing and hearing what you want. Answer me one question: Since when has Mingyu a weird feeling about Lee?" 

Wonwoo knew exactly what the manager wanted to reach and remained silent. "Before or after you were attacked?" Wonwoo played with the ring on his little finger. "Didn't Mingyu have a strange feeling about Lee all the time? Isn't it just an antipathy towards him?" 

Wonwoo remained silent and the manager stood up again and leaned over his desk to him. "Wonwoo. He had already infected you with his doubts about Lee before the attack in the restaurant. And then he just kept talking about it. Then you both were so fixed on Lee that you could only see him as the culprit. And when Mingyu was attacked, you just thought that that was Lee as well, of course. Isn't that so?" 

Wonwoo looked up and saw something like pity in the eyes of his manager. "Everything you think about Lee was hammered into you by Mingyu. If you're honest, you know I'm right." He leaned back again and drank a sip of water from his glass. Wonwoo was disgusted by the fact that the manager was trying to load everything onto Mingyu. 

"May I go now?" Wonwoo got up without responding to his manager's questions. "Not until you've answered me." Wonwoo pushed his chair to the table. "You know my answer. It doesn't matter if Mingyu had a strange feeling about Lee before or after the incident. And yes, I didn't hear him admit it myself and Mingyu has told me a lot about his worries and thoughts about Lee beforehand, but I can still think logically. And I know that Mingyu never imagined such a thing under the painkillers. I believe him every damn word about what happened in the kitchen." 

The manager stared at him, but Wonwoo continued determined. "I know Mingyu better than my own family because I spend every day with him for all these years. He would never just suspect anyone or spread lies. He is one of the sweetest and most polite people I know. Why shouldn't I believe him?" He took a short break and then stared at his manager. 

"It just amazes me how much you can believe a stranger more than you can believe us. Even if we were to come up with all these things, which we don't, it wouldn't be a problem to fire a stranger in order to take that bad feeling away from us. How important are we to you?" He got louder and before he could say any worse things, he turned around abruptly and left the office. He didn't care about his manager calling him when he slammed the door behind himself.

-

The others were at lunch when Wonwoo came back. He walked past the dining room without a word and opened the door to one of the training rooms. He slammed the door furiously behind him and sat down on the floor. He was raging. "Fuck him." Next to his feet was a cup, which he kicked and watched as the water spread on the floor. "They are such morons," he muttered angrily. "I hate them all." 

He was so enraged that he hadn't noticed that the door to the training room was opened and someone came in. "Assholes," Wonwoo continued babbling and dropped his head in his hands. "Who do I have to kill?" Wonwoo flinched when he noticed there was someone else in the room. 

"When did you get in here," he asked Mingyu surprised and looked up at him. The latter smiled mischievously and sat down on the floor to the left side of Wonwoo, where no water had reached yet. "Sometimes I can be as quiet as a butterfly," he replied, gently elbowing him. 

Wonwoo ran his hand through his hair, "Yes, maybe like a drunken butterfly, flying into everyone's face and twisting its wings." They remained silent for a moment. 

"Judging by your reaction, it didn't go well?" Wonwoo sighed. "I don't want to talk about it." Mingyu slipped closer to Wonwoo so that their shoulders were touching. "Did he yell at you?" Wonwoo looked at him for a few seconds. "I said I don't want to talk about it." 

"A lot has happened in the last few days. I think the management also needs some time to-", Wonwoo kicked his foot against Mingyu´s. "What do you not understand by: I don't want to talk about it?“ Mingyu remained unimpressed. "You can't blame them for not believing us right away because-" 

Wonwoo couldn't believe that Mingyu still talked about it and even defended the management. "Mingyu," he interrupted him with a warning undertone. He stared angrily at his friend and Mingyu sulked. "Stop justifying their behaviour, they don't defend you either. Idiots." 

He turned to the side and let his finger glide through the poured water on the floor. "I bet you defended me. That's enough for me," Mingyu remarked so quietly that Wonwoo almost didn't hear it. He took his finger out of the puddle, wiped it dry on his pants and glanced over at his puppy like friend. "You can bet your ass on that." 

"And then the manager was angry that you defended me." Wonwoo took a deep breath. "They both think we're equally crazy if that's what you want to know." Mingyu raised his arm and Wonwoo leaned his head slightly forward so he could put it over his shoulder. "I was thinking earlier about how we could catch Lee in the act." Wonwoo closed his eyes for a moment and cuddled closer to his friend. "Gyu. Just let it go." 

"I should just let it go? So we keep living with that asshole as a staff member, waiting for him to rape you or kill me?" When Mingyu laid out the facts so clearly, Wonwoo got sick for a moment. In his rage he had completely forgotten what a dangerous situation they were in. 

"No, of course not. But catching him red-handed didn't work the last time." Mingyu pulled his friend closer to him. "Can I tell you my idea now?" Wonwoo nodded his head. "I talked to Joshua. His cousin works in a media and technical department. He can get us a listening device." Wonwoo was playing with the ribbon of Mingyu´s hoody and paused. "I let it get plugged under my clothes, somehow try to be alone with Lee again and get him to admit it again in front of me." 

" No. No fucking way." Wonwoo let go of Mingyu's ribbon and leaned back. "I will do it. I'm the older one." Mingyu rolled his eyes. "Hyung, are you fucking serious?" 

"He tried to kill you. He won't kill me that fast since he has other intentions with me. So it is clear that I will face him alone again." Mingyu breathed deeply. "Hyung, no offence, but that didn't work with you last time either. And with me it happened immediately". 

Wonwoo shook his head and stared at his friend. "I said no. I'll never leave you alone with him again." He reached for Mingyu´s ribbon and pulled him closer to himself. "I would worry too much about your clumsy ass." Their faces were only a few inches apart and Mingyu smiled. 

"Ah, I almost forgot that you love me." Wonwoo rolled his eyes, but didn't lean back. "Stop it." Mingyu grinned even more. " Say it." Wonwoo didn't understand how they suddenly got into this mood after the burdensome conversation about Lee. 

"What should I say?“ Mingyu raised his eyebrows. "That you love me. I want to hear it again." Wonwoo snorted, released the ribbon from Mingyu's hoodie and was about to lean back, but Mingyu clasped Wonwoo's right cheek with his hand. 

"Say that you love me and cannot live without me because I am the best and greatest friend you will ever have." Wonwoo let out a mocking laugh. "Shut up." Mingyu kept his hand on Wonwoo's cheek. "No. Say it." 

Wonwoo slapped his hand away and grumbled. "Shut up." Mingyu grinned. "Otherwise what?" Wonwoo leaned closer to his face again. "Otherwise I'll make you." Mingyu opened his mouth in shock and smirked. "You make what? You want to silence me? How hyung? Now I'm excited." 

Wonwoo felt a tension in the air that he could not describe. It was a new feeling for him. He blamed his stress emotions about Lee for that feeling. "Just shut up," he whispered and felt Mingyu's breath on his face, they were really close to each other. 

"You turn the words in my mouth around. I think we have other problems than-" His next words got stuck in his throat as Mingyu leaned even closer and gave him a kiss on the corner of his lips. Mingyu had kissed Wonwoo many times before. Forehead, cheeks, hand, even his nape when he embraced him from behind, but everything close to his lips had been off-limits so far. There should at least be a no-go in a friendship, kissing around that area or not? 

Wonwoo could no longer think clearly. But his belly turned funny and he had a tingling feeling inside his chest. He knew the blush was popping up in his face and leaned back abruptly as Mingyu took his hand off his cheek. "What was that?" 

Mingyu looked at him casually, as if nothing had happened. "What? Can't I kiss you now?" Wonwoo slid back and forth uneasily. "Y-Yes, but t-that was, it was-." Wonwoo cursed himself that he suddenly had to stutter in front of his friend. The kiss had thrown him completely off track and especially the feeling afterwards which the kiss had caused. 

"Wonwoo," Mingyu laughed at him, "why are you so red? Did you think we'd make out?" Wonwoo pushed Mingyu away and stood up. "Fuck you. That's what you want. Just don't kiss me randomly near my mouth, dick." Mingyu laughed again and stood up as well. 

"I just wanted to loosen the mood." Wonwoo pinched his arm. "Ouch hyung, how many times should I tell you to stop pinching?" Wonwoo approached him and nudged his lips with his finger. "If you put that on my mouth again, I'll pinch you as often as I can." It was supposed to come across as a warning, but somehow it had an unmistakable after taste. 

Of course Mingyu had noticed that also. "Sounds like a tempting offering?" He leaned closer and jokingly formed a kissing mouth so that Wonwoo pushed him away again and fled to the door. "Get the stupid listening device so we can finally get rid of that asshole," he said and left the room with flushed cheeks. 

That's not how he had imagined the rest of the day after talking to his manager. He trembled slightly as he went to the dining room. Lee, Mingyu, the manager, all this had not only made him an emotional mess, but had also confused his feelings and emotions as it appeared.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So obviously I didn't really plan to go down that road, but somehow it just happened? 
> 
> Thanks for your kudos and I appreciate every comment that makes me want to continue this story.


	7. SEVEN

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The big showdown and fluffy feelings~

_People in love don´t see gender(...) It´s about the other person, the one that you love and who loves you. You don´t think of them in terms of a label. You just go with your heart._ -Sam Taylor-Johnson 

 

~ ~ ~

 

The next award show was a week later and as the members got out of the cars into the freezing night and stepped on the red carpet, Mingyu immediately noticed that there were three to four more bodyguards than usual. Management had responded to the attacks by hiring more security guards for Seventeen. 

Mingyu hadn't seen Lee since Wonwoo's conversation with the manager and that had been almost a week ago. Joshua had already provided him with the listening device, but there hadn't been a single chance to try it for days, as Lee could not be spotted. 

On the red carpet, Wonwoo stood next to him and Mingyu noticed that his hyung was constantly keeping an eye on him. Mingyu didn't know when the cards had turned, because suddenly Wonwoo had become the overprotective friend. Wonwoo was shivering with cold and Mingyu resisted to wrap his arm around him.

"They fired him." Joshua, who was standing at the other side of Mingyu, whispered to him suddenly. Mingyu had hardly understood him due to the many voices of the photographers there. 

"Who?“ Joshua glanced over at him and rolled his eyes. "My grandpa.“ He raised his eyebrows. „Lee, of course.“ Mingyu stood there as if rooted and when all of them were showing the sign of peace with their hands, he moved his to his mouth in shock. "They what?" 

Wonwoo nudged him in his side when he noticed that Mingyu was doing every pose incorrectly. Before Joshua could answer, everyone started to move to walk into the building. 

"Are you sure?" He caught up with Joshua again and walked with him through the entrance area. "Yes, our driver had called management earlier and apparently they were talking about the staff and then he said that Lee had been fired." 

Joshua kept walking but Mingyu halted. He was shocked. It was exactly what he and Wonwoo had wanted the last few days, but suddenly this firing frightened him a lot. What if the dump only pushed Lee to do more? What if now he just had one more reason to hurt them? Although he had obviously tried to silence him, Mingyu was much more worried about Wonwoo, whom Lee had sexually assaulted and wanted to try again. He was lost in his thoughts when he felt an arm was wrapped around his waist, pulling him forward with him. "Gyu, what's going on? You are completely off track today," he heard Wonwoo´s worried voice next to him as they were led into the backstage area by the staff of the event organizer.

But before his friend could drag him into the dressing room, Mingyu grabbed Wonwoo's wrist and pulled him away from the door and towards the staff restrooms. "Mingyu, what the hell? We don't even have ten minutes and then we need to go on stage. What is ha-?" He paused when he caught the serious look from Mingyu. "What's going on?“ 

"They fired Lee. Joshua found out from the driver in the car." Mingyu could recognize the same alarmed expression on his friend's face which he probably had shown before as well.  
"Really?" Mingyu took Wonwoo's cold hand in his and tried to warm it.

"Yes. I don't know what you said to the manager during your face-to-face talk, but it seems it had an influence on him." Wonwoo nodded slowly as he tried to process the whole issue. "Then it's all good now, isn't it?" Mingyu spotted an insecurity in Wonwoo's eyes. 

"I think so?" Wonwoo took his hand away and put it on the doorknob. "Whatever. We have to go back Gyu." Mingyu put a flat hand on the door so that Wonwoo could not open it yet. "Why aren't we relieved that he got fired?" Wonwoo looked at the floor before glancing back at him. "I don't know," he whispered.

–

After their performance, Mingyu hurried to the bathroom when the others went back to the dressing room. But before he could reach the toilet, someone grabbed his arm and pulled him into a storeroom and closed the door behind them. 

Mingyu was strong, but he was so surprised that he hadn't fought back. It was dark in the storeroom and he could only hear the quick breath of the other person. "Choose asshole. Either I kill you here right now or you make Wonwoo come in here and leave him to me." All his hair stood on end when he heard Lee's voice close to his ear. 

"And if you think you can call the police or trick me while you're looking for Wonwoo, you're wrong. Because I will follow you discreetly and as soon as you say a wrong word to someone, I will not only stab you, but randomly all idols on the way to Wonwoo". Mingyu felt Lee getting even closer to his face until he could smell his drunken breath. "Choose." 

Mingyu tried to reach the doorknob with his hand behind him, but suddenly he felt Lee put a knife to his throat. "You ruined everything for me, you idiot. You should have just left Wonwoo alone, I would have had fun with him and the two of us would never have had a problem with each other. Maybe we would even have become friends." Mingyu swallowed hard and slowly he got scared to death. If Lee wanted to, he could just stab him right here and he couldn't do anything about it. 

"Choose!" He yelled at him and pressed the knife even more into his skin at the neck. Mingyu was afraid to swallow. "3, 2,-" Lee began to count and Mingyu closed his eyes. He would never lure Wonwoo in here. "Just kill me." When the words were out, Mingyu felt better than in the last days despite being scared to death. 

"You are such a moron. Even if I stab you first, I would still grab Wonwoo after it. How much do you actually like this boy?“ Mingyu had already expected not to be alive at this moment and was surprised by Lee's question. "You would rather let yourself be killed instead of me having some fun with him? I wouldn't even kill him." 

The knife was no longer at his throat, but Mingyu didn't dare to move. "I'm giving you a second chance. Choose again and choose wisely" Mingyu shook his head. "I already answered you." He squeezed his eyes, ready to be stabbed, when suddenly the door behind him was ripped open, the light turned on and then everything happened very quickly. 

Someone pushed him to the floor and another person attacked Lee. "Knife down," Mingyu heard someone screaming and understood in all the hustle and bustle that it was the bodyguards or security guards who suddenly had come rushing into the room. 

When one of them released Mingyu and helped him up, Wonwoo sprinted inside the store room as well. His eyes were dissolved in tears and he was trembling all over his body. Before Mingyu could ask what had happened, Wonwoo attacked him with the tightest bear hug he had ever received from him. 

"Are you all right? Are you hurt?" he let out between sobs and leaned back a little to inspect him. Mingyu stared at his sobbing hyung and the sight broke his heart. No, he would never have given up Wonwoo. He put his hand on his friends face and wiped over his wet cheeks. "What am I going to do with you, crybaby?" Wonwoo ignored his teasing and lowered his head against his chest. 

"Kim Mingyu, are you hurt?" asked one of the guards and Mingyu shook his head. Lee had just been led away by another security guard. "I am so sorry. I'm so sorry," Wonwoo murmured against his chest. Mingyu grabbed his shoulders and made him stand upright again. New tears ran down his cheeks. "It's over hyung." Wonwoo sniffed and nodded. 

"You were lucky that your friend told us immediately," the same bodyguard said again and Mingyu gave Wonwoo a questioning look. The latter finally had his sobs under control and wiped the last tear strains from his cheek. "I saw someone drag you into this room. At first I wanted to come after it myself, but I knew it wouldn't do much good. What could I have done? I immediately knew it was Lee and so I prayed that nothing would happen to you while I ran to the next bodyguard and panicked and begged him to come with me." 

Mingyu nodded slowly as he realized that Wonwoo had probably saved his life. "I was so afraid that we would be late, Mingyu. I had already seen you bleed on the floor. I didn´t want to see that again." Mingyu smiled and wrapped his arms around his friend all over again. He placed his chin on the top of his head and pulled him closer. "Thank you.“ 

"Don't thank me. That's the last thing I want to hear right now," Wonwoo mumbled into his chest. "What do you want to hear then hyung?" Mingyu had to struggle with the tears when the adrenaline was dropping. "Are you really okay?" 

Mingyu let go of Wonwoo and nodded. "Yes. He didn't hurt me." Wonwoo examined him closely. "What did he want?“ Mingyu shook his head. "I don't want to talk about it now. Let's get out of here. The room gives me a headache."

-

They were back at the hotel and after Mingyu had made a statement to the police again, he and Wonwoo had received a massive apology from the management. They had to tell the whole story to the members again and now, hours later, Mingyu tiredly threw himself on his hotel bed while Wonwoo was in the shower. 

After all the hassle with Lee, Wonwoo had insisted on being his roommate for the night. With his face pressed into his pillow, Mingyu heard Wonwoo coming out of the shower. "You can go in." 

"I don't want," he mumbled against the pillow. "What did you say?“

"I said, I don't want“, he let out, mumbling again. "Gyu, don't do that!" Wonwoo sat down next to him on the bed and turned Mingyu around so that he was now lying on his side. "You can't breathe and I can´t understand a word you are saying." 

Mingyu observed Wonwoo. He looked tired and his wet hair was dripping on his pyjamas. It made him soft. He grabbed him by the arm and pulled him down next to himself. Wonwoo fell face forward on Mingyu's chest. „Yah!“ he called out and propped up, staring at Mingyu. "What is this all about?" Mingyu felt the drops on his shirt of Wonwoo's wet hair, but he didn't care. 

He didn't answer, he just stared at his hyung up close. He was very grateful for him that he could almost burst. "Gyu, don't look at me like that", Wonwoo turned red and leaned back further. Mingyu also sat up. "You really should take a shower. That feels good after all today's events and-"  
"Do you actually know how much you mean to me?" Wonwoo laughed nervously. "Aish, what's the matter with you? So soft. Did you fall in love with me because I rescued you?" Mingyu made a face and placed his finger on Wonwoo's lips. 

"Stop saying that or I'll kiss you there again." Wonwoo's eyes grew bigger. "Don't you dare to do that." Mingyu chuckled. He lay down on his back and after a few seconds Wonwoo lay down next to him. "He wanted me to lure you into the room," Mingyu let out after a moment of silence, "he had given me a choice. You or me". 

Wonwoo turned to the side and stared at Mingyu in bewilderment. "What do you mean by you or me?" Mingyu also turned to the side and glanced at his hyung. "You wet the whole bed," he said matter-of-factly and Wonwoo kicked him against his leg. 

"Yah, stop trying to distract. What did Lee mean by that?“ Mingyu took a deep breath. "He wanted me to take you to the room so he could have his way with you. If I didn't, he would kill me with the knife on my neck.“ It surprised him the most that he could say these so words so bluntly as if there were no terrible story behind. Meanwhile he was sure that all this didn't seem to be real for him at all and that he wouldn't realize until some time or weeks later even what had really happened in the last few days. 

Wonwoo's eyes were big and reddened. "Don't cry again, baby." Mingyu tried to lighten the mood by teasing him. "What did you answer him?“ Mingyu shrugged his shoulders. "You came on time, so it doesn't matter." Wonwoo kicked him in his leg again. "Yah hyung, that hurts." 

"What did you say to him? How did you choose?“ Mingyu lay down on his back again. "I think I should take a shower now.“ Wonwoo sat up, grabbed his chin and leaned closer. "Don't tell me what I think you answered, Gyu! Don't tell me that you would be dead now if we hadn't arrived in time!“ Tears gathered in his eyes and Mingyu hated that he had to see Wonwoo so sad in the last days. "Won, it was-" 

"Gyu, what did you say?" Mingyu closed his eyes for a moment. "That he should kill me." It was quiet and when Mingyu opened his eyes again, Wonwoo leaned away from him. He was angry, he noticed it immediately. 

"Won," he touched his shoulder, but the latter stood up from the bed and made a few steps forward with his back turned towards him. "Wonwoo." Mingyu also stood up and stopped behind him, nudging him. 

"Why did you say that?" He didn't turn around. 

"Because I love you." Wonwoo shook his head and flipped. "Why did you say that?" His voice became louder and angry tears ran down his cheeks. 

"Because I would sacrifice every single person in this world when it comes to you." Mingyu looked directly into his eyes and let his feelings speak. "Me included."

"You are crazy,“ Wonwoo whispered.

"It's not my fault. It's just like that. You are the most valuable person to me and it has always been and always will be like that. So you can't be mad at me for-" He was interrupted when Wonwoo leaned forward and kissed him on his lips. Short and gentle, but it was a fucking kiss on his lips. 

"Why, why did you do that?" Wonwoo shrugged his shoulders. "Because I love you“, he imitated Mingyu´s words from last week and smiled. "But I still hate you for saying that to Lee." Mingyu was still frozen from the kiss. 

He had kissed Wonwoo himself, yes. But not so straightaway on the lips and now he was completely messed up. Wonwoo chuckled. "Gyu, what's wrong? Am I not allowed to kiss you anymore?“ Again he mimicked Mingyu when he had asked Wonwoo the same question after his kiss. 

"Let me guess, you wanted to cheer the mood up." Wonwoo got serious and shook his head. "No, I just wanted to kiss you." Mingyu's stomach flipped. Wonwoo had to be overtired. He would never say something like that. That would be way too cheesy for a Wonwoo. He put his hand on his hyung´s forehead. "I think you have a fever."

"I think I've fallen in love with my best friend." Mingyu dropped his hand and his mouth remained open. "You- you what?" His heart was beating up to his throat and it was hard for him to breathe. Was Wonwoo really tired or did he make fun of him or was he actually serious? "Wonwoo, I think we should go to sleep. Somehow everything is very crazy right now." 

Wonwoo grabbed his wrist and Mingyu looked at him. "You're the clumsiest, silliest and most foolish puppy I know. And sometimes you make me so mad that I could throw you off a bridge. At the same time, sometimes you make my heart beat so strong that I'm afraid it's gonna jump out of my chest. And that has been going on for as long as I can remember. And I always thought it was normal among best friends, almost brothers,“ he paused and glanced at the floor. 

"But it's not normal. A best friend does not kiss his friend on the lips. A best friend would not give his life for the other without at least thinking about it for a moment. A best friend doesn't look at me like you do right now." Mingyu could hear everything, but his heart was beating so loud that he thought he misunderstood half of it. 

"I love you so much. And when I saw you lying on the floor, bleeding last week, it suddenly made sense. You and your puppy eyes and your bear hugs, I'm all over you Gyu. And that frightens me and makes me crazy and can you please say something right now, otherwise I will die here in this hotel room.

Wonwoo was breathing very hard and Mingyu could only stare at him wordlessly. "Gyu, I'm dying right now." 

"Don't die," he whispered. Wonwoo nodded slowly and waited. He waited for Mingyu to say something, and Mingyu just stood there and his head was completely empty. "Wonwoo, the last few weeks have been so fucking shitty. First you almost got raped, then I got hurt, then I almost got stabbed to death and now-" Wonwoo raised his hand to silence Mingyu. "It's okay, Mingyu. You don't have to explain anything. I understand. Just forget what I said." 

He started to move and only now did Mingyu realize that Wonwoo thought he wanted to give him a rejection. He grabbed him by the arm and pulled him so tightly that he collided with his chest. "What-" Mingyu breathed hard. "I should forget?" He chuckled. That was the only thing that came to his mind at the moment. Wonwoo looked at him with big eyes and Mingyu realized that he felt more for this person than words could ever express. 

"Now listen to me very carefully. I don't know what this is between us. And I can't name it either. The last time I checked, we were both still hetero. That's why I have no idea what's going on here. But listen to me carefully what I am telling you now. I don't give a shit if this is a friendship or a brotherhood or whatever - I don't need a name for it. I just want it to stay the way it is." 

Wonwoo nodded and Mingyu put his hand on his cheek. "It should remain the same as it is right now...plus this." He leaned forward and kissed his friend on the lips. He relaxed against him and enjoyed the warm, fuzzy feeling in his chest. When he leaned back, Wonwoo smiled awkwardly. 

"I don't need a name for it," he murmured shyly. "And now take a shower. I will not cuddle with a smelly one". Mingyu grinned. "Who says I'll cuddle you and who says I'll even sleep in a bed with you?" Wonwoo gave him a knowing look. "Because it's the same as always. And we leave it that way."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is it. I hope you guys enjoyed this and the end. Though English is not my first language i think it is pretty solid :D  
> Thanks for every kudo and review -appreciate that really much!!


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